Simple
by FateTragedyDestiny
Summary: Peyton sat at home, wondering how on earth she could have been so stupid to let him go. At the time it hadn't been, but of course now she knew this. Well, now everything was different, everything has changed, suddenly everything is scary. LP
1. Chapter 1

Simple

She sat at home, her mind searching for something to occupy her time. The thunder from outside echoing around the darkness of the room, everything was still, everything was calm. Except for one thing; her mind was racing, thoughts whirling around her head. His laugh. His smile. His eyes… his deep, blue, penetrating pools of understanding that saw straight down, right down deep into her soul. He understood her like no one else had ever before. It was simple, all these thoughts in her head came to the one and only conclusion… she loved him with all her heart. That was never going to change.

She remembered the first time they met, or at least the first time they had spoken. Before that she had watched him, liked him, loved him since the first time she had laid eyes on him, but the moment she was reminiscing in her head was the first time they had truly connected.

He had been playing his acoustic guitar behind the school in the shade of a large tree he was sat beneath. She had sat on the other side of the tree, back leaned against the wide trunk. He had not moved or turned around to see the unexpected visitor, just simply said,

'Hi', his deep, calm manner of speech fitted his personality perfectly. She had often overheard him speaking to others, but was pleased to here when the words that he spoke were aimed directly for her hearing.

She replied in the same way, a quiet greeting whispering through the wind whilst he continued to strum chords to a tune she didn't recognise, presumably something he had been working on himself since she knew almost every song that had ever been made.

Eventually he had turned around meeting her eyes. The sides of his mouth curled into a kind, soft and gentle smile. Hers returning in the same gesture in an uncontrollable way, like his smile was a disease that she couldn't help but catch.

They had sat there, no more words had been uttered to one another, but the moment didn't need it, it had already been enough to stick in her memories for the past three years. There had been many rough patches in between, but every second had been worth it, if only for the friendship which had followed that moment, being able to spend hours a week listening to him compose his music, whilst she sat there with her eyes closed feeling the sudden sense of calm able to just wash over her by sitting in his presence. It was the happiest she had ever been. At the age of 14, Lucas Scott had been her best friend.

A sharp knock at her door broke her trail of thoughts. Her heart beat slightly faster than usual at the sudden interruption which she definitely hadn't expected. Then it dawned on her. Who could it be?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Changes

She closed her eyes grasping the cold smooth handle of her front door, not wanting the person standing inches away from her, hidden by the thick plank of wood between them to be the person she had spent the whole morning thinking about... Lucas. Fingers crossed on her other hand – a childish ritual yet anything seemed worthwhile at the moment. She hadn't yet prepared what she was going to say to him.

She swung the door open to be met by the, oh so familiar face of...

'Brooke Penelope Davis, what are you doing here?!' relieved to find that it was in fact not Lucas she gladly greeted her best friend.

'What took you so long?! I've been freezing out here!' of course light hearted Brooke didn't bother with the 'hello, how are you?' and pushed past Peyton into the warmth of the cosy house.

'Sorry, I was... err... busy...' she trailed off realising her excuse hadn't sounded overly convincing.

'No you weren't, you were hoping it wasn't _him_ weren't you?' they'd met when they were fifteen, Brooke had joined her school and they had instantly hit it off after things had begun to get... difficult with Luke, and undoubtedly had known the tell-tale signs ever since of when Peyton was being affected by the thoughts of him.

'Or maybe you were hoping it _was_!' she continued, 'You can't do that! You know you did the right thing... you wouldn't have been able to cope without him, I knew it, your mum knew it, everyone knew it apart from you two!'

Not this again... she thought that they had already established how stupid she had been to think that it could have ever worked with him miles away - she loved Brooke so much, but Brooke also knew how to take something the slightest bit too far - she just hadn't wanted to let him go, they'd been through so much and got so far... then he had to go and muck it all up with his stupid music! Immediately as that thought came she wanted to take it back, she loved his music more than anything, music in general had always been a big part of her life and however much she had disliked him for having gone on the tour, in the back of her mind she had always known it to be the right choice. He couldn't just let an opportunity pass him by like this one just for her. But she missed him so much.

'Hello? Earth to Peyton!' after no reply Brooke voice turned worried after clicking in Peyton's face saying, 'Are you ok? Finally Brooke's voice attracted her attention.

'Sorry, yeah... fine...'

'Peyton, you have to let him go! I thought you had got past all of this!'

'I had...'

'Had? What changed?'

That was the touchy point of the conversation... something had changed... something _big_.

_A/N: Sorry, the chapter is so short, it just seemed an appropriate way to end it. To make up for it I will post the next update very soon_

_Thanks for reading and please review!_

_NOTE: if you find any Aaron and Leahs they represent Lucas and Peyton. I origionally starte writing this for an english class then realised that it was turning out to be the perfect Lucas Peyton story, so I have tried to change all of the names but if I have missed a couple then I am sorry  
_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Confessions

'Gosh Peyton, I had no idea' Peyton had by now poured out all of the last few days thoughts filling her head.

'I know, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, it's just...' and at that point she let it all out, all the emotion bottled up inside her. She cried into Brooke's shoulder, feeling comforting circles being traced around her own back by Brooke's hand. Slowly her breathing slowed and the sobs quietened which Brooke had obviously noticed as she drew Peyton's head up to meet her own eyes. Brooke's were full of comfort yet concern for her best friend.

'It's going to be ok.'

'Really? 'Cause it doesn't feel like it is right now' as the sobs began to sharpen again Brooke reacted quickly.

'Shh, hey, enough of that already' Brooke's light tone in dire situations had always been able to warm her heart as she let out a small smile of recognition, thanking Brooke for being there when yet again, another disaster had struck.

'Have you told your dad yet?'

Breathing sharply through her nose she replied,

'No'

'Don't you think you ought to?'

'You know I've made bad choices in the past, and you've seen his reaction. Just think about this! He'll go insane!'

'Still, he's your dad Peyton, you've gotta tell her sooner or later' Brooke raised her brow as if to try to set into Peyton that she couldn't hold this in any longer.

'...ok' although her reply had sounded weak, it was also convinced. One down two to go, she thought to herself.

Once her father had returned that evening, she told him.

Her father had sat there in a stunned silence, mouth opened a jar. She thought she could almost _feel _the steam coming out of her father's ears.

Bracing herself for the uproar, Peyton had sat down, got comfortable and put her head in her hands as to refrain from looking at her father's face, knowing that if she had it would instantly start her streaming again. To be honest she thought she hadn't got enough fluids left inside of her for that to happen again!

To her surprise what Peyton had been preparing for didn't come, what _had _happened on the other hand was much, much worse.

Her father's reply was simply, 'I'm so disappointed in you Peyton, I thought you had changed' followed by him walking silently out and closing the front door behind him.

She could have handled the shouting and guilt-tripping, which was normal. But this... this was pure horror and utter disappointment her father's voice had carried, like something she had done was dirty and instantly frowned upon.

Peyton sat there in silence, and did exactly what she had been trying to resist doing since Brooke had left.

She cried... again.

God, what had he done?!

Every night he would lie in a different bed, yet still feel the same sensation of cold sheets beneath him, of a space for another body to be lying next to him, of his brain splitting in half between two dreams which both meant so much to him. Had he made the right choice? The wrong choice? But what he hated most was, by making the decision he did, he lost his best friend _and _the girl he loved. Therefore had no one to even talk to about the huge mess he seemed to be stuck in, like quick sand he had waded into too deep.

'JUST STOP THINKING' he shouted to the empty room as if it would dismiss all negative thoughts. Of course it didn't. He rolled onto his side and clutched the ribbon in his palm, finally drifting into an uneasy sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Visitors

Gasping for air Lucas shot up off the bed, sitting up, chest rising and falling fast as he recovered from the sudden bang that had startled him so much. He looked around the hotel room looking for the source of the noise, he noticed a thick book lying on the floor and went over to go and retrieve it. Bending down to lift the book he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, whipping around to investigate he hit his head hard on something that hadn't been behind him before. Closed eyes and rubbing his throbbing head he wondered what the hell was going on. Suddenly hearing a giggle from the direction of the balcony doors he opened his eyes to take in the brown haired girl watching him.

'Brooke?' he finally blurted out, eyes still wincing from the pain, he slowly turned his eyes to the direction of what he had propelled his skull at. Head tilting slightly at the only thing he could find that could possibly have been the cause of his extreme discomfort to be a large black suitcase.

Turning back around he asked 'how long are you planning on staying Brooke?'

'Depends how much longer you're gonna continue to be a dick, and considering the circumstances I figured that might end up being a while', she replied whilst gesturing to the enormous amount of luggage she had brought with her.

Her only recognition of the previous sentence to Brooke was a completely baffled and confused look from her best friend's heartache now situated on the edge of the bed.

'Oh, for heaven's sakes. Do I need to spell everything out to BOTH OF YOU?!'

Brooke was obviously now getting considerably more exasperated with the pair of them by the second. He felt this to be a good time to pitch into the conversation, 'Ok, so what makes now any different to before? Why is now such an important time to be home when Peyton has already broken up with me? When my mother and uncle have disowned me? And when I have no friends left?' As there was no immediate response he added 'hmm?' for an extra effect to get the point across.

Brooke considered her response carefully. 'Because Lucas Eugene Scott... You do have a friend, she is standing right in front of you' followed by a sharp glare whilst pointing at herself. 'Because no doubt your mother and uncle are regretting every second of there being no speaking between you and finally because, Peyton never broke up with you because she no longer loved you, because you had been a dick and wanted to go on tour, but soyou _would_ go on tour. She let you go, she didn't dump you. She wanted you to have this experience Lucas, in case the opportunity never came around again. And so now she spends every waking moment, thinking, remembering and generally killing herself because of you.' He didn't like this conversation much.

'And now!' She continued 'Now you've only gone and' she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth still wide open from her intended speech to follow. Yet she had realised she had already gone too far, that wasn't part of the plan, that wasn't her place, she was barely in her place by coming here and not having told Peyton! But most of all, that was what Peyton was supposed to tell him.

'Now what Brooke? What have I done now?'

As Brooke stood there, unable to reply whilst fidgeting with the hem of her shirt his phone began to ring. He didn't move from his spot and left the phone to ring.

'Aren't you going to get that?' she asked, hoping that he would to give her a few extra moments to think of how she was going to get out of this one.

He reluctantly walked over to the bedside drawers to look at the screen to discover who was calling him. 'Peyton?' he commented rhetorically.

'What?' Brooke asked, surprised herself that Peyton was calling him.

'Yeah' he flipped the front of his phone up to answer. 'Hello? Hi... I... err... how are you? Oh, right ok.' Brooke thought the conversation sounded to be a particularly awkward one, his next sentence especially caught her attention, the sudden change in tone of his voice. 'Wait, what do you mean?'


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – The Old Guitarist

There was a quiet knock at the door. No visitors, e-mails, texts, phone calls and all of a sudden he's got Brooke in his hotel room, Peyton on the phone and another person knocking at his door! Lucas wandered over to open the door whilst Brooke peered around the corner, so as she could still here the conversation over the phone and see who Luke was about to answer the door to.

Seeing who the visitor was Brooke sharply ducked around the corner, there was a girl at his door, Brooke scurried around the remainder of the room looking for a place to hide without having to run across the hallway leading to the front door where she would be seen.

Finding nowhere to cram herself hidden Brooke slipped out onto the balcony, hoping that the pair wouldn't venture outside for some fresh air.

'Oh, hi...' they were all the words Lucas could summon up from the pits of his stomach filled with, fear, regret, anger, disappointment and pain. There was an awkward silence before the visitor spoke.

'Can I come in?' the voice was surly and seemingly full of bitterness that the tongue of which the words rolled off of wouldn't normally have held. Lucas shut the phone slowly making a loud noise in the quiet which had suddenly flowed through the room.

'Sorry, sure' Lucas stepped aside to let her in; she stalked up the corridor and sharply turned to face him. Her eyes full of anger, as if burning into his skin Lucas felt as if he had to look away, instead adjusting his eyes to a painting just above the bed. It was a copy of the famous Blue Period painting by Pablo Picasso, called The Old Guitarist. The man in the painting had his head hanging to one side with a guitar cradled in his arms, eyes shut as if sleeping, although Lucas knew by the pale tone of his skin and protruding bone structure that the man was in fact dead after what seemed a lonely lifetime with no one having cared for him.

'Lucas!' she shouted at him, his eyes snapping back to hers, instantly regretting it as her eyes held tears, threatening to roll down her pale cheeks. He knew he had done this to her, he had made Peyton Sawyer like this. In that moment his heart shattered into a million pieces. In that moment, he realised it. In that moment... he pulled her into a tight embrace, an embrace that he wished would never end.

A warm damp feeling began to immerge across his chest, her body racking with violent sobs. She looked up at him; her cheeks had become rosy and her eyes swollen. Then an unexpected reaction from her split across her face, sharply tugging out of his arms she began to laugh. Lucas had been startled and stared at her with a confused expression; the laugh erupting from her was cold and uninviting.

Also as this happened Brooke peered around the doorframe, confused about what she had heard, uncontrollable tears and now sudden laughter, what had got into her? Just then things took an even more unusual turn. Peyton picked up her bag and stormed out the door as she – what sounded like – started to half cry half laugh. Brooke fully emerged from outside as Lucas turned around and looked her straight in the face. His eyes were also now welling up, pain evident in his blue eyes that were normally the most warming eyes Brooke had ever seen.

As Brooke ran out of the door in the direction Peyton had earlier she shouted back a quick apology and left Lucas on his own.

He returned his gaze to The Old Guitarist. Suddenly he felt his life sharply reflecting that of the paintings; if this was how he carried on... he would be the old man dying alone.

_A/N Just wanted to say thank you for the reviews, they mean soo much to me :)_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Mixed Emotions

Brooke found her in a back street alleyway beside a couple of foul smelling dumpsters with her knees tucked up against her chest sat rocking in a steady rhythm in time to her gentle sobs.

'Hey, shh, shh, it's gonna be ok, you're gonna be alright now, shh honey calm down' Brookes words of comfort first came as a surprise to Peyton as her best friend swiftly motioned to sit next to her pulling the heartbroken girl to rest on her shoulder. Peyton willingly took the support that Brooke offered her, not bothering to even start to think why on earth she was in the state anyway.

'What happened in there honey? Were you going to tell him?' Peyton began to nod in response when she realised that Brooke must have been in the room.

'Why were you in the room Brooke?' the snarl stung Brooke. She didn't know what to say.

'Well, err' Brooke's face crumpled into an utter look of discomfort. 'I was doing it to help you Peyton, let's not talk about this now, we'll talk later. You're upset right now you're not gonna be' She was cut off the end of her sentence.

'Thinking straight? Yea, because if that was the case Brooke, I would never be thinking straight, one thing after another the world comes kicks me in the ass again. Can't I ever just be happy for once?

She got up to leave but Brooke tugged gently at her wrist encouraging Peyton to turn and face her; reluctantly Peyton did but didn't make eye contact immediately until Brooke snapped her fingers centimetres from her face. 'Hey, don't pull away from me, not now. If you go running off into the city, I'll never be able to find you. At least come back to the room I booked at my hotel, then I won't have to worry whether you've been squashed by a cab.'

Peyton, attempted a tired a smile at the light hearted comment and pulled Brooke up from the ground. Brooke swung her arm around Peyton's neck and dragged her along the street towards her hotel.

'I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was coming' the regret was evident in Brooke's words.

'I know. You were only trying to look out for me and all that.' She smiled weakly at her best friend; this was followed by an awkward silence. 'And anyway, how did you get away from your parents?'

'Well, actually, they're away for the weekend, and when I came round earlier in the week, I was going to ask if you wanted to come round whilst they were away. Then I decided against that after what you told me, I thought instead I should come out here and try to persuade him to come home.'

'Yeah… how did that go anyway?' Peyton's discomfort and hesitation caused Brooke to come and sit beside her on the bed.

'Well, actually we didn't get around to talking, we were shouting before we knew it and then you rung him, and all of a sudden, there you were, at the door. You know you would have made a much better entrance if you had just turned up at the doorstep, much more dramatic.' Brooke's last sentence had been followed by a smug smile and quick wink in the direction of the mirror that they were watching each other in hanging opposite the bed.

'Thanks for being here Brooke; I wouldn't have been able to do this without you.' Peyton laid her head on Brooke's shoulder and let one final tear to roll down her cheek. Enough was enough. 'I have to go tell him now; will you wait here for me until I get back?'

'On one condition' Peyton nodded signalling for Brooke to continue, 'you promise you'll come straight back here when you're finished and give me a ring when you're on your way.'

'Sure' Peyton got up breathed in a long sigh, and picked up her coat and bag before walking out the door.

Brooke lie back on the bed and let an exasperated moan out. Staring at the ceiling thinking about what she could do whilst she waited for Peyton to get back. She had had a long journey here and decided to have a nap; besides, all she had brought to amuse herself was in her suitcase which was still currently at Luke's hotel room. Maybe she should start planning how she was going to get that back, but before any thought had been put to this, Brooke had fallen into an exhausted, well needed sleep.

The familiar ring tone erupting from her phone sitting next to her on her bed immediately woke Brooke up. She saw the expected name light up on the screen of her phone. She sat up quickly, realising that that was not such a great idea as the room began to spin uncontrollably. It finally steadied and Brooke flipped up the front to her phone. 'Hello?'

'Hi, I'm on my way back' Peyton's voice was trembling.

'Ok, how did it go?'

'I'll tell you about it all when I get home.' Peyton sharply hung up the phone call not wanting anymore questions to be fired at her right now; she wouldn't have been able to keep her voice from trembling from the excitement much longer.

_A/N: I'm really sorry but there might be a delay on updates soon as something unexpected has come up, please bare with me and I will try my best to get the updates up as quickly as possible, but I won't rush it as I want them to be good. also!! any confusion is going to be sorted out in the next chapter, so not long now hopefully :)  
_

_Review please :)  
_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – The Ribbon

He flung himself backwards onto the hotel room bed, head in hands, still unable to comprehend the last hours conversation.

_Following a hesitant knock at the door Peyton stepped back to compose herself and run through the conversation in her head one more time, after the countless times she had recited it on the way over._

_She heard a short bang preceded by a much louder bang relating to that of an Lucas falling to the floor. She couldn't help but giggle to herself at the picture. He opened the door whilst still looking round, presumably to try and work out what had caused the fall. After having spotted the turned up corner of the rug, he turned his head round to see who was trying to stifle a laugh under their breath, which was immediately cut short as Peyton saw the red rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks of a man looking back at her. Her mind instantly erased all of the speech she had previously prepared and all that escaped was a stuttered 'Are you ok Lucas?'_

_He didn't reply, walking in and slumping his tired body down into the soft mattress which welcomingly sunk beneath his weight. That was when she noticed the ribbon poking out of his tight fist, her ribbon._

'_You still have it' threatening tears burned at the back of her eyes, the relief was overwhelming._

'_What?' snapping his head back up to see her eyes travel down to his firmly clamped hand grasping the said object. 'Oh that. Yeah. You were wearing it - '_

'_When I told you we had to end it' she finished the painful sentence off for him._

'_I found it on the floor in the morning and couldn't bring myself to get rid of it' he trailed off. She knew what he was saying was a big understatement of the truth, not only had he not got rid of it, but he had kept it. By the looks of it he had kept it close, its edges were fraying and crumpled. Both sets of eyes met, a single tear ran swiftly down his cheek. She walked quickly towards middle of the room where he was sat and pulled him into a tight embrace, raising him from the bed._

'_I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry Luke' she didn't have much experience with crying men, but that was when she realised that he wasn't really a man, they were both still kids. As he cried onto her shoulder she breathed in a large sigh and managed to quietly tell him, 'I'm pregnant'._

_The reaction was instantaneous, the sobs were shut off and her arms were thrust away from his shoulders. 'Lucas, wait' he was scrabbling around the room searching for something. 'What are you looking for?' he stood up sharply, stopping to think also either not hearing or choosing not to answer Peyton's question._

_After a moment he suddenly sprang into life again, darting underneath the bed to pull out his large brown case. Unzipping it he flung the lid open to reveal only one thing left inside it, a diary. He opened the bound leather book flipping rapidly through the pages in the wrong direction, finally slowing his movements as he drew closer to the page he was seeking. June 23__rd__. It was ringed with a large red circle._

'_What's the date?' he asked, almost shouting the question in his flurry of what seemed to be excitement._

'_August 17__th__' she replied letting a smile of endearment cover her face watching his eyes widen allowing his brain do the simple calculation which took him much longer than it should have._

'_That's almost two months' his grin was still smothered over his face, having presumably forgotten the state he had been in minutes before. His eyes wondered to her stomach, trying to find any signs of his baby growing inside of her._

'_It isn't showing yet' she answered his unasked question. He nodded leading his eyes back up to meet hers now smiling sweetly to her, she returned the gesture without realising and before she knew it she was back in his arms again. The embrace was different this time; his muscles were not weak like they had been minutes ago, her having to keep him up. That was definitely not the case anymore as he lifted her from the ground span her around and set her back down onto the carpet._

She remembered the moment as she hurried down the street to meet Brooke back in the hotel room, it made her eyes water and a silly grin plaster her face. The wind blew back her hair as she flew into a sprint, not knowing where the sudden burst of energy had come from.

Finally she reached the revolving doors to the entrance of the hotel and pushed her way inside, the wait for the doors to slowly creep around was excruciating, every moment she just wanted to scream in joy and jump as high as she could into the air. On the ride up in the lift Peyton took the journey as an opportunity to attempt to compose herself, although she quickly realised the rush of happiness wasn't going to dull anytime soon, and neither did she want it to. This was the happiest Peyton Sawyer had been in quite a while.

_A/N: Will be focusing on 'Open Your Eyes' for a while as the ideas are fresh in my mind. The next chapter will be along soon then I will be taking a break from this story, hopefully not for long though :)_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – A Journey to Home

It had been three days since the moment in his hotel room, and Peyton felt a huge weight had been lifted off her life. Lucas had been supportive (not to mention protective as hell, she smiled remembering how he dashed up and down the hotels stairs grabbing her luggage out of her hands muttering something about 'strain' 'back' and 'baby') she couldn't help but sit there with a stupid grin on her face which she imagined would have closely resembled that of a banana. Her thoughts were confirmed as a chuckle reached her ears from beside her, as there stood Lucas Scott – in all his glory – ducking his head as not to bump it against the overhead storage compartments on the plane that they were currently aboard, laughing at her.

'What?!' she exclaimed with a complete look of innocence and a smug smile plastered across her face.

'I haven't seen you this happy in ages' his words were spoken quietly and sweetly, making her heart soar yet again, for what must have been at least the tenth time today.

'I know! It's great isn't it?!' Her smile radiated through the room, and it warmed his heart like piercing rays of warmth penetrating his skin. He stood there for a while just staring at her until he heard an annoyed voice.

'Excuse me!' a woman was standing behind him trying to get through whilst he was just standing there staring at the girl in front of him. He felt his cheeks burn into a bright shade of pink as he muttered a quick apology and slumped down into the seat next to Peyton. She was by now laughing uncontrollably.

'Hey, shut up!' he sounded truly hurt from her reaction but Peyton couldn't stop herself.

'I'm sorry' she managed to blurt out in between rumbles of laughter which had by now brought her to tears and leaving her gasping for breath.

As well as the fact she had just caught him: eyes bulging, mouth open, she could have sworn she saw him about to dribble. Okay, so she was playing it up in her head a bit, but not only had this act been hilarious, it was absolutely adorable and inexplicably seemed to shift something inside of her. This meant he still had feelings for her, either that or his male hormones wouldn't let up and he just found her as hot as hell. Either way, Peyton was happy at what he had just done, although she secretly hoped it was the earlier thought, that maybe there was a glimmer of hope at that seemingly never-ending tunnel. Her journey from hell, she thought, might just be closing to an end, and it was all leading home... exactly where she wanted to be and she wanted to be there with him.

Peyton had absentmindedly begun to rub her belly until she jumped at the sudden voice from behind her. 'Oi! What's so funny? What am I missing out on? And how come I had to sit behind you next to –' Brooke was cut off by a loud snore coming from the man next to her, cramming her to the edge of her seat as he over spilled into hers. Her head now poked out over the back of Peyton's seat with a disgruntled look upon her face. Peyton couldn't help but let her laughs grow again, becoming infectious to the two people she cared about most as they also began to laugh.

'Well...' Peyton began to explain 'Lucas was taking a nice moment to stand there goggling at me in the aisle when a woman, who by the way, desperately needed the toilet had tried getting past and had to ask him to move out the way at least five times before he finally moved.'

'Really?!' Brooke's eyebrows raised and her head tilted at an angle towards Lucas as his cheeks began to go red again. The two girls laughed at him again and he eventually joined in with a nervous laugh until his face had returned to a normal colour.

He already knew he would never hear the end to this. At least not until he and Peyton got back together again, which he undoubtedly knew they would and deep down, he knew that that was now the thing he longed for most. To be loved by Peyton again, so he could hold her in his arms, and eventually to be able to hear screaming kids running around their family home. Yep, Lucas Scott had planned it all.

**A/N: Ok, now the updates will definitely be getting slower, sorry about that but I will try and keep them farely frequent :)**

**Review!!  
**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Unspoken Bonds

_A/N: Ok, so here is the next chapter, fitted it into a bit of spare time, still not expecting the updates to become as quick as they were, but here you are fore now. If you haven't already please check out my othe story 'Open Your Eyes' and review review review :)_

She woke up to here an annoying tinkling coming from the kitchen, slowly getting up, rubbing her eyes she walked over to the mirror and attempted to smooth the mass of hair that had become tangled from a night of the normal fidgeting that she did.

As she walked in, she saw an equally shattered – if not more – Lucas standing beside the counter, whirling a teaspoon around a mug. After having discovered the tinkling to be the spoon scrapping over the china walls of the inside of the mug she shook her head and walked silently up behind and began to massage the kinks out of his knotted shoulder muscles.

He subconsciously smiled lightly at her touch and felt a gentle shiver up his spine, he couldn't cope with how much he loved the girl standing behind him, the mother of his unborn child. Although they were not 'together' as such, they're bond had become much closer than it had before the tour. They would sit up in her bed and just talk, albeit it had only been three days since they had returned to Tree Hill after he had agreed to leave the tour permanently for his new family. They would talk about baby names and just about anything. The tour wasn't an uncomfortable subject and she would often ask him to tell her a story about it whilst she curled up beside him, clasping the duvet in close to her chest eventually falling to sleep. Then he would crawl out of the bed and make the way to his own room in her house.

He would often find it hard to sleep, the happiness and love for the girl in the other room was pounding his chest to get out, to be able to tell Peyton that he loved her and all he wanted to do was hold her until they're child was born. Not only would the happiness he felt flit around his head, but he would always have the same damn insecurity about not ever being able to be with her again. Peyton seemed fine with just having a child with him, perfectly content in sleeping in the different rooms, unaware that any innocent hug or peck on the cheek would send his heart soaring sky high. He would just have to hope that she would eventually come around to feeling the same way as he did.

'What's got you up so early?'

He sighed, 'I'm just nervous I suppose'

'What about?' The tone of her voice was kind and soothing, willing him to tell her the truth.

'I dunno, the scan I suppose, it's just gonna show that the last few days have actually been real, I'm just worried that I'll be overwhelmed with it all....'

'And....?'

Damn she knew him too well 'What if I'm not a good father?'

'I knew it' her giggle was more of a sigh, 'Lucas, you are going to be the most amazing father, and I know throughout this that you are thinking about Dan, and how he is the only father you have had to learn from, but deep down you know just as well as I and everyone else does that Keith will have taught you all you know and therefore you will be a brilliant father'

He smiled inside, noticing how prepared her little speech had sounded. 'Thank you'

'That's alright' she smiled sweetly at him, their eyes locking for a long moment 'now come on, chop chop, we can't be late' she patted his butt twice to get him moving and walked out the room. His eyes followed the slender, tanned legs gracefully float around the corner out of sight.

'Snap out of it' he whispered harshly to himself, briskly shaking his head.

She walked into her bathroom and sat on the cold toilet seat, the temperature causing her whole body to break out in goose-bumps. She began to remember the last time she had sat here.

_She couldn't quite believe what she was seeing, the pink line facing back at her._

'_Positive, shit, positive...' it couldn't be, she'd only sent him away a few weeks before. Now what the hell was she going to do? The more she thought about it, the more it seemed the world had come to an end. She knew she couldn't go through the pregnancy alone, she knew that Brooke would be by her side every step of the way, but it wasn't quite the same as the aspect of her baby having a father, and her having the joy of seeing his face when he felt their child kicking for the first time, at the first scan, hearing the heart beat. She needed him with her._

Looking back, she could truly see how lucky she was. Lucas had come home for her and the baby, completely abandoning the tour of his dreams for something far lower key. Suddenly something clicked inside of her head, jolting into the familiar position that it had been for the last few years.

Jumping up feeling her bare legs rip slightly from the plastic toilet seat cover she confidently strode out of the room and found he had hardly moved from five minutes before.

Expecting her swift movements to be frustration that he hadn't begun to get ready for their appointment yet, he begun to open his mouth in the plan to make some kind of excuse to why he hadn't moved, but before he had the chance to even think of his excuse she had crushed her lips upon his. The kiss wasn't brutal, but it was firm, in a way that he couldn't quite understand... determination maybe? He didn't care in that moment, it was a new bond between them and he kissed her back, the moment slowing down until she gently pulled away and looked up lovingly into his eyes.

'Thank you' the contentment was evident in every manner of her. He wondered on whether to ask what her gratitude was towards but decided against it. She started to walk slowly backwards and just before coming to the doorway swished around, causing her hair to whip around in the most perfect of manners. Feeling the moment they had just shared settle in he leaped into a flurry of excitement and movement, rushing off to get ready for what he expected to be the best moment in his life so far.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - Feeling a Moment

Her nervous twitch had started to annoy him, the light tapping of the toe of her shoe against the floor of the waiting room.

'Brooke, really... please?' he understood why Brooke was here, but couldn't quite work out why she was more nervous than him.

'I'm sorry' she said through a shaky laugh.

He was about to ask what was wrong when Peyton walked back into the room, after having been to the toilet for what seemed like the fiftieth time that day. After sitting between him and Brooke she also quickly realised Brooke's agitation.

'What's up with you B. Davis?' Peyton followed with a signature quirk of the eyebrows which Brooke smiled fondly at.

'I'm fine, but I can't work out whether I'm nervous or excited. Know how you get that sometimes? It really annoys me. Like when you can't tell the difference between whether you're either really full, or really hungry. Then you stare at that last bagel on the counter and you're like 'do I actually want that'. Yeah... that kind of stuff really bugs me.'

She turned around to be met by quite the picture. Both Peyton's and Lucas' faces burst into laughter. She was glad to see the happiness but was slightly annoyed that they were laughing at her expense.

'Wow! That was quite the speech Brooke.' Peyton said followed by agreements from Lucas behind her.

'Yeah, well... tough, I'm just excited, that's all...'

'Ah! So you worked out what you were feeling then Brooke? Well I'm glad you're excited.' Lucas was still laughing along with Peyton who also had yet to stop.

'Shut up' she pouted in resemblance to what she imagined would resemble a four year old who wanted another scoop of ice cream but wasn't allowed.

'Aww, c'mon Brooke, where's your sense of humour? You used to laugh along.'

'Hmmph' was her only reply. After the laughter had just about died down, a nurse stepped into the waiting room, clipboard in hand.

Looking up she said 'Peyton Sawyer?'

'Here' she replied, feeling the déjà vu of sitting behind a desk in school replying to her name being called by her teachers.

The nurse nodded kindly, presumably having immediately noticed her own age. She saw the flicker of sympathy run across her face but decided to ignore it. Nothing was going to ruin today.

After having walked a few steps she turned around to be surprised by the fact that neither Lucas nor Brooke were following. 'Lucas, Brooke? Come on! We don't want to be late.' She said waving her hand at them to follow. The delight she saw made her laugh; they hadn't seriously thought she was going in alone? Without the father to her child or the friend who had got her through the last week and a bit. Shaking her head at the nonsense she looped her arms through each of their arms. She felt unbelievably safe and calm at that moment. Her life had fallen so nicely into place; she couldn't get over how lucky she was.

Walking into the room the nurse signalled for her to enter she saw a kind faced woman who she guessed was in her late thirties turn to face her and beam a genuine smile of happiness. She imagined that she never got tired of her job, bringing new life, hope and happiness in the world must be fulfilling at least.

'Good morning Miss. Sawyer' her face still filled with happiness looked towards the clock to see it showing quarter past twelve, 'sorry, make that good afternoon.'

Nervous and excited laughter filled the room. 'Hello' Peyton replied loudly, obviously more confident than the other two who let out a much quieter greeting.

'Ok, so if you would like to come and lie down for me Peyton and then Mr...' she trailed off requesting a name.

'Lucas Scott' he replied.

'And Brooke Davis' Brooke chirped in.

'Ok, if Lucas would pull another seat over beside Peyton.'

'I'm ok standing' Lucas answered.

'Alright then. Brooke' the doctor then gestured towards the seat already situated next to the bed which Brooke gladly sat in. 'Sorry, I'm Doctor Peterson. How many weeks along are you Peyton?'

'Almost nine weeks' Peyton replied.

'Ok then, any signs of nausea at all?

'Not any signs.' Peyton smiled back but her smile faltered when she saw a look of hesitation or confusion being projected back at her. 'Why, should I have?'

'Most mothers do, but I wouldn't say that it's any problem, ok now, lie back and this may feel cold.' The doctors smile had returned but Peyton's had not, she was feeling troubled lying there on the bed. Tears started to fill her eyes whilst Doctor Henderson went to retrieve the jelly but when Lucas reached for her hand; she felt a course of reassurance flow between their joined limbs. She reminisced from the car journey over to the hospital.

_Nothing had been said since they had got in the car. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, rather the opposite. It was peaceful as they drove through the familiar town, as she watched the trees move past in a flurry of greenery she got the unusual sensation that the car wasn't moving, and everything outside the car was. She liked the feeling, it only lasted a couple of seconds as there was a bump in the road that they drove across, jogging her back to the reality of the car being the moving object._

_The thing to really stir her from her thoughts though was a calloused hand reaching over and smoothing over a yet to be existent baby bump, although she liked to think it was there, growing bigger every day. She looked down to her stomach and followed the hand up to his arm then to Lucas' face looking out onto the road, only reaching away when necessary to change gears._

_She wanted to cover her hand with his and did for a while but it was too hard to keep having to slip his hand out. So after a while she reverted back to looking out the window whilst Lucas kept replacing his hand to the spot which was becoming increasingly warmer from his body heat. It was a comfortable rhythm and continued until arriving at the parking lot when they looked to each other and sat hand in hand resting on her stomach until Brooke also drove into the lot and parking next to them._

It had been a nice moment, just like this one.


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Dedicated to xoxotaylor thanks for all the reviews and you're great to chat to ;)_

Chapter 11 – Here Comes The Pain

She lay there curled up into his side, it felt so good being there with him, and the body heat that he emitted from through is shirt was welcoming at the least. It was official now – they had jumped of the 'just friends' cliff and plummeted into the 'relationship' abyss. Her heart soared at the prospect of being together, through the good times and the bad, she was just sad that what had forced them to jump was a bad time...

All she kept saying to herself was that it wasn't the end of the world. Life would go on, and now she had Lucas to go on with.

_He could feel the pulse in her fingers quickening as she gripped his hand painfully tight; she had a small adorable smile and a subtle glint in her eyes. He hadn't seen her as excited as she was then in a long time, and it warmed his heart to see it. The glint sparked when the cold gel was placed on her stomach and she let out a very un-Peyton-like giggle, fluffy and girly, so unlike the person it came from._

_The room fell silent as everyone prepared to see the tiny shadow of a baby and hear the amplified noise of the heartbeat as the doctor scrolled the ultrasound scanner over Peyton's stomach._

Then his breath caught and he shuddered to sudden awareness. Calming from the vivid dream he had just had he looked down to see Peyton, unable to help himself the smile he broke out was filled with adoration as he kissed her on the head, burying himself in her curls, breathing in her unique scent which acted as his drug in life.

He retracted when her small form began to shake, he could tell that she would have been crying long before he woke up and all she was trying to do now was hold it all in, not to let herself breakdown, especially in front of him. His heart ached a little when he realised that she must not feel entirely comfortable in front of him yet, he just wished she would open up fully and breakdown. He knew it was only going to get worse before getting better and he would allow that, Peyton just needed to realise what he had done.

Stroking his fingers through her matted curls he sighed and continued the motion until she finally stopped shaking, he then sat her up so she would be facing him and swiped his thick finger under her delicate green eyes which held all of her emotions... you just had to learn how to read them.

Unable to look into her eyes any longer her pulled her into him, grasping her tightly to help her feel secure.

She felt secure in his arms. Safe and cared for. She wondered how he could be dealing with the day so well when it affected him just as much as it would her, she was glad he was dealing with it better than her though.

The cautious knock at the door didn't stir them from their position when Lucas let out a strained 'Come in'.

Brooke smiled faintly as she carried in a tray of food, Peyton felt grateful for her best friend's attempt to cook for her sake which they both knew she couldn't do. Only did it dawn on her that Brooke had decided that she was better off getting something she only needed to put in the microwave with a timer that went off without her having the chance to forget about it, when the bowl of pot noodles was set down in front of her.

Both Lucas and Peyton laughed in sync and moved apart from the embrace. Brooke smiled at the reaction she had got out of the pair.

'Eat up you two, you'll thank me later even if I have to force feed you.'

Peyton nodded as Lucas gave Brooke a quick wink of appreciation which she nodded in a 'you're welcome' kind of style.

'Hey, Brooke!' Peyton called as she was closing the door behind her.

'Hmmm' she said as her head peeked around the corner.

'Aren't you eating as well?'

'I was planning to grab something on the way home.'

'Well go grab another bowl instead.'

Brooke nodded and returned almost instantly in which time Lucas and Peyton had shuffled over on the double bed.

'Thanks' Brooke said whilst spooning noodles from both Lucas and Peyton's bowls.

Peyton let out a chuckle then suggested something that surprised both Lucas and Brooke. 'Hey, why don't you stay here a while?'

'Peyton...' Brooke said as she slowly shook her head.

'Ple-e-a-a-a-se' Peyton grinned.

'Well how can I turn down that face? Ok, I'll stay.' Then rushed to add an afterthought 'if that's ok with you too Luke?'

'Sure' he nodded but couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at not having alone time with Peyton now they were together, although he doubted there would be anything like he had in mind for a while yet. Still... he could hope.

He had to mentally slap himself and blushed a little but was glad when neither girls – now tucking vigorously into their pot noodles – who had not noticed. How could he be thinking like that in the situation they had now been thrust into.

Peyton's mood seemed genuine but gentle sighs, body language and those green eyes showed how forced it actually was. She would need both him and Brooke to be a shoulder to lean on for the next week or so.

_A/N: Ok so pretty sure you know what's going on, but bare with me :)_

_REVIEW PLEASE :D  
_


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: Ok, so I haven't been pregnant before and don't know how the ultrasound machines work, so accept creative liscence on the whole medical front. I apologise about it but hope you still enjoy :)_

Chapter 12 – Milk, One Sugar

He woke up to see a familiar sight. Both Brooke and Peyton were fast asleep next to him in his bed. He thought back to Derek, or Ian whoever it didn't matter, the memory hurt all the same. Brooke was still fully clothed from last night and the television was playing silently in the background, its soft change in light shadowing over the girls faces.

Everything was still and peaceful as he lay there watching Peyton breathe slowly. In... Out... In... Out... He got up to make some coffee, slowly lifting himself from the mattress so the loss of his weight wasn't sudden enough to wake them up.

He walked at a sloth-like pace; he was in no rush to get anywhere. He retrieved the necessary equipment to make the beverage that he craved and enjoyed the smell of the coffee granules as he opened the packet. That must be one of his favourite smells, after petrol – which many people would never understand – and Peyton. Her aroma was unique to her and fitted her personality like the final piece to a jigsaw puzzle.

Once he finished the pot of coffee he poured himself a mug before beginning on Peyton's and Brooke's. Peyton – milk, one sugar. Bitter and sweetness at a perfect level for her. Brooke – lots of milk, two sugars. Or at least that's what he strained to remember from the last time he had made her a cup.

He walked cautiously with the two full coffees into his bedroom and set them down on either side of the bed. Brooke turned over at the smell of the coffee and opened one eye, reached out and sipped. She nodded a 'thanks' to Lucas before he went to get his own. Once he returned Peyton was stirring into awareness of the day, she sat up and attempted to smooth down her messy curls and he gestured towards the coffee that he had made her as he sat down. Once comfortable he picked up the mug and turned to pass it to her.

Her green eyes were swelled with tears as he held out the coffee to her. Brooke looked over and reached around so she could see Peyton's face, after having done so she pulled Peyton backwards to lie in her arms. He hadn't moved. What had he done to make her cry? After returning the mug which had been burning his hands to the coaster he asked Brooke the silent question of what had happened. She shook her head, also not tuned into the reaction that Peyton had showed.

Peyton decided to shed some light on the situation and said louder than she had expected her voice to come out 'I've been avoiding caffeine, for the... for...' she said whilst shaking her head as more tears trickled down her face.

The penny dropped as everything began to make sense.

------

Once Peyton had apologised profusely for her overreaction and Lucas and Brooke had apologised even more for not having considered the situation they had settled down on the sofa and begun to watch a movie which they hoped would suffice all tastes.

They sat in a domino formation with Lucas at the bottom of it all with Peyton resting on his chest and Brooke leaning against Peyton's stomach. The weight for Lucas hadn't been a problem until both girls fell asleep on top of him; they're tired bodies sinking heavily into him causing difficulty to breath.

This domino setting was turning out to be a bad idea as Lucas wriggled around trying to obtain more oxygen for his lungs and Peyton stirred, sitting up meaning that Brooke slid off of her stomach and all of a sudden everyone was awake again.

Lucas cursed silently under his breath for having woken them but Peyton ran her hand down his cheek and jaw assuring him that it was no problem; her actions made everything seem alright again.

Peyton saw the on looking glances of concern and answered honestly 'I feel fine now guys, we'll get through this. It's not the end of the world.'

Both heads bobbed up and down in understanding and she saw the flicker of trust run across both blue and brown eyes. She knew what she had said sounded genuine because it was. She had woken up with a new attitude and was determined to let it stick around for a while.

Brooke then made up a lame excuse for needing a shower and when Peyton offered that she shower there she quickly refused muttering something about her shower being much better but no offence.

She was meddling again. But she knew she loved her for it.

Suddenly her life was blissful again, sure there was still that underlying feeling in the pit of her stomach that she knew would stick around for a while, but it would pass. Now she was going to live life to the max.

Lucas was hurt, crushed and disappointed. He closed his eye letting his mind wander in a direction he knew it would go...

_Dr. Peterson had the monitor facing her as she probed around Peyton's stomach, printed a picture which she stored onto the device but did not print and smiled fakely as she turned the screen blank and excused herself from the room._

_He wondered what was going on; there was something off about the situation. He stared at the blank screen; he knew Peyton would know have come to the same conclusion, Brooke also. They continued to sit in silence until Peyton pulled her hand out of Lucas' and crossed her palm over her flat stomach._

_Flat..._

_No sickness..._

_He was surprised that the tears that streamed violently down her face didn't make a single sound. However before either Brooke or he were given time to console her, Dr. Peterson and a gentle looking man of just over middle age walked into the room. They instantly saw the state that Peyton was already in and smiled sympathetically at all three of them._

'_This is Dr. Cookson; he's here to talk to you'_

_Lucas didn't look forward to what he had to say, he took Peyton's hand back and Brooke joined hers as well._

'_This is an unfortunate circumstance in which a home pregnancy test proves that it can sometimes be misleading.'_

_That was an awfully posh way of informing someone they weren't pregnant._

Lucas had thought that in the ultrasound room and still stuck by his judgement now. He thought about the fact that he was no longer an expectant father but looking into Peyton's glistening green eyes that were beaming at him, he knew that this was not going to be the only time he was going to hold that emotion with her in his arms. They're time would come around, maybe this was somewhat for the best, they could mature a little more in the meantime, sort out where they're lives were now heading and ultimately structure their relationship.

They were going to be happy together. True. Love. Always.

**Review :D**_p.s. sorry if this has ruined it for you :S_


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: haven't been able to read through as I am supposed to be leaving today for a week, and I am very behind but I had to get this update of Simple in before I left :D_

_So I hope you enjoy it, slightly shorter than some others but drama is here to come, so stay tuned, won't be another post until at least next Sunday.  
_

Chapter 13 – Dial Tone

'Ouch!' Peyton screamed as Lucas jumped and bashed his head against hers.

'S-sorry' he replied, rubbing his forehead, the phone was ringing and they had both been sleeping peacefully until then.

She sat up, allowing him room to get up, obviously not wanting to answer the phone call for herself. He felt awkward answering her phone, sure he had basically lived with her once before and it had been considered likely for him to answer whenever someone called, but it was different now.

He picked up the receiver and spoke uncertainly 'Hello? Peyton Sawyer's phone' he shook his head at the laugh that erupted from her head buried in the pillow. He snapped back to focus in the phone call and his face fell slightly. 'Yes, this is he' he nodded his head to the other caller and followed quickly realising they couldn't see his head 'oh, ok, thank you very much' and replaced the phone back in its holder.

Peyton hadn't been watching as she rested her head in the cushion yet had raised her body when she heard the tone of Lucas' voice change.

She tilted her head to the side, her expression questioning.

He smiled again and said 'we have to leave' he went to pick up his jacket and looked around finding she hadn't yet moved 'to go to the hospital again.'

'What? Why?'

'That was Doctor Cookson he needs to see us again but didn't say yesterday considering the situation' he shrugged lightly and Peyton got up, smoothed her hair in the mirror then followed behind Lucas.

Once they were in the car she began to try and figure it all out 'ok, so, what do you think he'll want?'

'I don't know' he said, keeping his eyes firmly on the road, after a strained pause he looked over at her face, it was contorted into an unreadable expression 'hey, you ok baby?'

She looked back at him and he watched as the affectionate words he had used made her eyes bulge with joyful tears.

'Yeah' she nodded rapidly, 'yeah, I'm fine now.'

His face lit up as he tried to keep his eyes on the road, she looked so damn beautiful sitting next to him and she wasn't even trying.

After a comfortable moments silence she looked over at him then turned back to her window, then turning to face her he smiled as she looked wonderingly out the window, only just remembering to focus back on the road he adjusted the position of the car between the lines. He thought he saw her move out of the corner of his eye and simultaneously they looked around into each other's eyes.

The moment didn't have quite the comedic value as it would have had in a normal chick-flick which Peyton would loathe, the second that they gazed lovingly into the opposite of eyes seemed to go in extremely slow motion before Lucas had to revert his eyes to the road, they had been lucky to avoid any contact with anything so far and he cursed himself in his mind for even risking it. He wouldn't be able to cope without Peyton anymore than she would be able to without him.

He cleared his throat, changing to a subject he knew would be touchy 'Peyton, I think you should call your dad' she knew he was right, but didn't know what to say since he wasn't happy about the pregnancy in the first place.

'I don't know Lucas, how do I tell him that? He'll feel really guilty because he was angry to start with and hasn't been in contact' less happy tears formed slowly.

'I know, but it has to be done soon.'

'You know he'll baby me.'

'Yep, just like my mum wanted to come down and baby you too.'

'You've already called?'

'Yes, it was a long phone call, what with explaining I was back from the tour as well as you being pregnant, which for the record she handled quite well and then what happened yesterday. She wanted to come down as soon as possible and see us both; I told her she could soon but not right now.'

It was all a lot to process at once.

'She loves you, you know that? Keith too.'

She looked around to him and smiled a thoughtful smile. 'I know, I love them too. They should come down soon, all of them.'

'Ok, we'll sort it out when we get back.'

'Agreed.'

They arrived at the large entrance to the hospital and he ran around the other side of the car to open her door for her. She laughed at his manners and allowed him to gently pull her from her low seat in the Comet that she loved.

They walked arm in arm up to the front reception desk and Lucas asked politely where they could find Dr. Cookson.

The attractive young nurse with fiery red hair, pale skin and a face covered with freckles asked for their names and then permitted them to follow her through to his office.

The nurse knocked upon the door and ducked her head around the corner, Lucas heard a muffled 'there is Miss. Sawyer and Mr. Scott here to see you doctor' and it followed by a loud friendly 'oh, do come in!' they entered into the brightly lit office 'here, take a seat' his face was confusing to Lucas and he couldn't make out quite what was coming.

Before taking a seat Lucas shook his hand strongly and sat in the chair opposite his desk.

'How are you two?' his face was sympathetic and caring.

'Alright considering Doctor' Peyton replied.

'Good, that's good' he nodded 'Miss Sawyer...' he trailed off.

Ok, now Lucas could tell what his expression Dr. Cookson was showing, and it certainly happy.

**Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think is going on, Review!!**


	14. SORRY!

Oh My God!"!"!"!

I am sooo sorry :S:S:S

At the end of the last chapter that I hadn't read over I had written

'Ok, now Lucas could tell what his expression Dr. Cookson was showing, and it certainly happy.'

And THAT ^^^ is TOATALLY wrong :0

It's supposed to say

'Ok, now Lucas could tell what the expression Dr. Cookson was showing, and it certainly wasn't happy.'

And I know that may give away a little bit but I had to tell everyone because that is quite a serious muck up on my part...

Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up but there are going to be a couple of bumps in the road yet to come.


	15. Chapter 15

a/n: it's been a while, I know... SORRY! This also isn't very long, also which I apologise for... the last line is from 'Shattered' by Trading Yesterday. If you haven't heard it before, check it out because it's awesome. Anyway enough from me.

I HAD TO CHANGE MY PEN NAME IF YOU ARE GETTING CONFUSED. IT'S NOW FateTragedyDestiny.

**IF YOU DIDN'T SEE THE NOTE IN THE PREVIOUS 'CHAPTER' THEN LOOK NOW!**

Chapter 14 – So Heartless

Peyton's hand clenched around his painfully tight. Dr. Cookson didn't finish his sentence; instead he broke the eye contact he had been sharing with the girl who was currently crushing his bones and pulled open the top drawer in his desk.

He didn't search for what he was looking for, for long; it was already prepared and ready for him. He slid over a piece of paper the size of a postcard; it showed something that made Peyton gasp from beside him and her hand loosen slightly from his.

The ultrasound picture which was being presented to them had the ghostly outline of a sphere. She looked up into the Doctor's eyes and found he wasn't showing any emotion. She looked back down to the picture, there was definitely something there, and of course at first thoughts – it being an ultrasound – she had thought it resembled the head of their unborn baby. Looking back now, there was no body connected to it, no other signs to show it to be a living child.

'It's not...' Lucas stuttered out 'it's not... is it?'

The man looked carefully back at them, his smile gentle and caring. 'It's not your baby Mr. Scott' Lucas nodded in the information, the feel of overwhelming fear and worry was rising rapidly in his gut.

'So what, what is it?' Peyton had yet to say anything and their joined hands were barely noticeable anymore as her grip was almost non-existent. He turned to look at her; she had gone an extremely pale white, her fingers the temperature of ice, slowly shaking her head in disbelief.

'We don't know from an ultrasound, we need to take a sample to determine what the lump is. It could just be a cyst on your ovary...' he looked towards Peyton, trailing off from the more minor possibility, close to following on to the thing Lucas dreaded to hear '... or it could be a cancerous tumour,' there it was, if this wasn't the end to his world, he didn't know what was. 'This is why we need to sample it as soon as possible. If it is, we may have caught it fairly early on...'

Lucas stopped listening at that point as the Doctor in front of him drawled on about medical things that he was no longer interested in hearing, he looked down to the possibly deadly picture. Dr. Cookson had said _we may have caught it early on. _Thinking about every single word as he stared at the lump, _may have_, only may have. The feeling in his gut was at flowing over point as he continued to look at the – in his eyes – not so small looking lump.

----

He clutched her in his arms once Dr. Cookson had left the room, saying that he was off to get some leaflets about what the surgery would include and _if_ (which he had stressed greatly) it was cancer, then what would happen next. Lucas just got the impression he was giving them time alone, either way he was grateful.

She cried harshly screwing up her eyes in attempts to stop the grief from flowing out from her. Nothing of the sort happened. If he was telling the truth, he was falling apart with her crumbling in his arms. If this was cancer, he didn't know what in the world he was going to do. He just knew they would get through it.

They would get through it together.

----

Brooke was sitting at home; happily painting her toe nails a perfect crimson colour, when the phone rang. She reached across her large double bed cautiously, minding the wet paint on her feet. Fumbling around trying to get the phone of its stand she finally managed and brought the phone to her ear puffing out a greeting of hello.

'Lucas? What's wrong? Calm down, you're speaking too fast...' she paused to allow him to talk and didn't say a word as she got up, grabbed her bag and a pair of comfortable shoes when she hung up and dropped the receiver onto the wooden floor, making a loud clatter as the two surfaces collided.

She slammed the front door as she searched the contents of her bag, almost emptying the contents onto her driveway. She was sure this wasn't happening now, it couldn't. Not after everything. Not. Now.

----

Once Brooke arrived at the hospital she flew through the front entrance, running towards the front desk, about to burst out a lot of questions as to where her best friend was, until she heard a voice she knew well call out to her.

'Brooke...' she swung around in mid run and crashed into a male nurse, she apologised and he shook his head, saying that it was fine. 'Over here' she looked around to where the incredibly tired and distraught speech of a man she knew was coming from.

'Hey Luke, is she out yet?' she sounded calm, although she was as far from it as she could get, she hoped Lucas didn't know that. Lucas had already told her that when he was on the phone to her, Peyton was on the way into surgery, he had already been at the hospital five hours that day and he was looking shattered.

Shattered in so many ways. Energy being the obvious, but in others that would make a list too long to read out. A shattered mind stood out prominently, just after the shattered heart that was pounding in his chest every second, waiting for the fate of the person he loves to be sealed and delivered.

_There's a light. There's the sun. Taking all shattered ones. To the place that we belong._

REVIEW :D


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 15 – Dead and Gone

_A/N: Haven't updated in… I don't know how long. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Inspiration has failed me on this story, the new one has been coming along well and totally pushed this and Open Your Eyes out of my radar, which is very frustrating as well as awful. Can't seem to pick it up again, just about squeezed this out, out of sheer desperation which shouldn't be the way. Have a new system now, when you write a story, write it all at once, then post, much better idea. The new story will be a long time coming yet as well, sorry again._

Pulling on the cream suit – Peyton had insisted no one was to wear black – he surveyed his appearance in the mirror, Keith stood behind him and patted him on the shoulder, nodding reassuringly.

Having reconciled with his mother as well, the support system was getting larger than just Brooke and Larry, both of whom weren't in very good condition they themselves considering. He couldn't see anyone else who would be joining though.

'You're gonna be ok,' Keith had turned Lucas around by this point and as his nephew looked into his eyes, all he could see was a tragic plea for help, it crushed Keith to see him like this. Lucas took a long breath, not removing the look of hurt and cleared his throat.

'What time are we supposed to be there?' Lucas couldn't remember at all, it was insane and awful but he didn't have the strength to feel ashamed.

Keith looked back at him even more sympathetically than Lucas had thought possible and a fiery flash of resentment passed over Lucas in that moment. Turning away to rummage through his drawer he resisted the urge to pick a fight with his uncle for being all-too-sympathetic.

'Two.'

Lucas didn't reply yet having found what he was searching for left his room and locked himself in the bathroom, clearly sending the right message to Keith. He couldn't find it in him to care that he was behaving very immaturely. To be honest, he thought he had the right to have an 'excuse to act in any way I like' card.

Opening the velvet box in his hand he looked at the ring inside, her wedding ring was perfect, just as it should be and how he'd always imagined it, he only wished that the rushed marriage was in better circumstances. He hated the fact that they felt they needed to; her cancer shouldn't give them reason to live their life any differently – except it _did_, of course it did…

Waking up this morning he had almost had a panic attack not seeing her living, breathing form lying next to him. Eventually realisation had dawned on him that it was their wedding day and they had decided to carry on with tradition.

This was also supposed to be the happiest day of his life; waking up insanely happy and imagining a _long_ and wonderful future lay out ahead of them. If only they could both truly trust that that would actually happen.

Pulling himself together he looked into the mirror and dragged a hand over his face. Forcing his thoughts to count on how lucky they actually were in the situation he thought about all that the doctor had told them two days prior.

Peyton was in stage one of ovarian cancer, therefore treatable. However there were three sections to stage one, Peyton being in the third. Surgery was booked in already and the leaflet they had been given with all the information had very kindly bullet pointed all the things that the surgeon would remove. Sitting in bed that night, Peyton had cried on his shoulder having the realization that after this she would be infertile.

She would be stripped of all the body parts capable of bearing children and they were devastated.

After surgery Peyton would feel awful and weak, therefore Lucas and Brooke had resolved to remain as strong as they possibly could. Chemotherapy would be next ensuring that the cancer wouldn't come back, however there was nothing definite about that being the final glimpse they see of her cancer.

Having never thought Peyton to be the kind of girl who cared that much about appearances, he had been marginally surprised to the extent of her grief towards losing her hair and quality of nails. He had whispered in her ear comforting words, promising that neither of these things would make him see her any differently. She had shouted that she didn't care what he thought – although he knew that to be a lie – and screamed that she just didn't want to loose her curls. He would have laughed if the situation wasn't as it was.

It was true after some more research that your hair could grow back differently but he said that he would buy her the best curlers there possibly were if, god forbid, her hair grew back straight.

The fact that a few days ago he had thought he was going to be a father seemed impossible, it felt like a dream he had years ago. Now they would never have biological children but he had no doubt if after this all, that wouldn't stop them from becoming parents anyway.

Deciding that he had spent enough time in the bathroom he unlocked the door as quietly as possible and walked slowly out into the hall, Keith was in the sitting room of their small apartment and gave him an apologetic glance.

'Will you drive me to the woman of my dreams, I believe we are to be married at two o'clock and I'd hate to be late' he said in the most posh accent he could create and the shadow of laughter passed between them both as Keith opened the door for Lucas to follow.

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Both Brooke and Peyton had tears in their eyes as they stood in the mirror in awe of how they both looked. Brooke had done Peyton's make-up to perfection, subtly averting anyone's thoughts to the fact that she was looking pale by adding blusher and a mild bronzer.

'You look amazing P,' Brooke said after sniffing and clearing her throat.

'No, we look amazing, you did amazing in two days B. Davis,' she looked at Brooke into her eyes rather than through the mirror, grasping her shoulders gently and looking at her face directly, 'thank you, so much.'

Brooke nodded a silent acceptance. 'Lets go get you married shall we Peyton Scott to be.'

Peyton nodded 'I can't think of anything I'd rather do.'

_Hopefully having written some more inspiration will come back, maybe reviews would help? Pretty pleeeeasseeeee?? :)_


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